The Moral Foundations of Knowledge: Seeking and Avoiding COVID-19 Information

An abundance of work in social and political psychology suggests a positive relationship between political conservatism, disgust sensitivity, and disease avoidance. Yet, despite this link, recent research suggests that political conservatism is negatively associated with attention to, and knowledge about, COVID-19. The current work draws on the intersection of moral foundations theory and modernization theory to investigate this paradoxical relationship between political conservatism and knowledge about COVID-19. Study 1 provided correlational evidence that individualizing foundations (i.e., moral concerns regarding individual rights and freedom) and binding foundations (i.e., moral concerns about ingroup values, norms, and respect for established ties between the group members/institutions) mediate the relationship between political conservatism and knowledge about COVID-19 (N = 205). Binding foundations were negatively, and individualizing foundations were positively related to COVID-19 knowledge. Study 2 experimentally manipulated the emphasis on different sets of moral foundations (i.e., individualizing and binding; N = 205). The results suggested that emphasizing binding foundations led to target-specific (i.e., COVID-19) information avoidance, and emphasizing individualizing foundations led to general knowledge-seeking behavior. Self-reported endorsement of the two sets of moral foundations, knowledge-seeking, and information avoidance measures also mostly replicated the patterns in Study 1; the effect of individualizing foundations was stronger than binding foundations. To my knowledge, this work is the first to apply the morality perspective to knowledge engagement. By providing a cultural psychological analysis on moral foundations, this work could serve as an intellectual spark for future research on political ideology and moral foundations from a cultural stance.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Kansas

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Birdir, Ekin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Adams, Glenn E

• Social psychology
• avoidance
• binding
• individualizing
• knowledge
• moral foundations

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright held by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

http://dissertations.umi.com/ku:18080

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/35351